


bittersweet

by gothzabini (girl412)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, M/M, Punk Rock, i don't know how to tag this huh whoops, oblivious boys in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 10:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girl412/pseuds/gothzabini
Summary: No-one expects Albus and Scorpius to grow apart, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that all it takes is a song on a chance meeting one Friday night to bring them together.





	bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thealmostrhetoricalquestion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion/gifts).



> I know it sounds sad, but I was sad when I wrote this. I'm a sucker for happy endings though so don't worry too much,,,,,, the fluff at the end hopefully compensates for all the angst just strewn around in this.
> 
> Chelsea, you wonderful, lovely, patient soul: here is a Scorbus fic that's vaguely centered around music. Exactly why I decided to gift you this, out of all things, will become apparent when you read it. Anyway, you deserve all the happiness and all the good things. I have so much love & appreciation in my heart for you <333

The story begins with a song, and a pub with Friday night musicians. 

 

It’s a Muggle bar, so Scorpius definitely doesn’t expect to see Albus Severus Potter, standing in the lights like he belongs there. He’s got a whole punk rock band with him too, much to Scorpius’s surprise. He remembers Albus from school. They were best friends at one point, and inseparable. After the time turner fiasco, everyone expected them to grow closer instead of apart, but things had changed dramatically. Albus had needed space, so Scorpius had given him the distance he needed. Time spent without his best friend usually went in studying, and if Scorpius was the top of his form earlier, it was nothing compared to what he would become. He got the highest score in a little over a decade, and was allowed to skip sixth year and do a condensed sixth and seventh year, making him the first person from his batch to finish school. Albus, on the other hand, had decided that magic wasn’t for him and had dropped out of school. They exchanged letters maybe, but infrequently. There was too much distance between them. They were no longer the Albus and Scorpius they used to be.

 

Maybe this is why the punk rock band, which Scorpius can see is called “SON OF THE SAVIOUR” if the banners are to be believed, is so intriguing. He can’t believe that he allowed the distance to grow between them, and as he listens to Albus singing the vocals to a Green Day song ( _fuck_ , since when could he sing like that?) something inside him almost shatters. The audience is captivated, but Scorpius feels it more than everyone else combined; the magnetic pull that is Albus Severus Potter, the pull that’s tugging at his heart ever since the fateful day on the train. It’s so bittersweet that he chokes up, almost forgetting to breathe. At that very moment, Albus looks up, surveying the crowd, and his eyes meet Scorpius’s. The moment where they make eye-contact feels electric.

 

Albus swallows, breaking off in the middle of a sentence. The other members of his band – Scorpius has never seen them at Hogwarts before so he assumes they’re Muggles – look at him, confused. This clearly isn’t part of the drill. Then, calmly, he murmurs something to the band members, and they start playing something gentler, more soft. Scorpius doesn’t think he can move, as Albus walks through the audience who part for him, right up to Scorpius. The rest of the members are playing what Scorpius thinks is the intro, since Albus isn’t singing and it’s just instrumentals. 

 

One of Albus’s hands finds Scorpius’s hands and Scorpius squeezes, suddenly feeling like they’re both in fourth year again. The smile Albus shoots him is dizzying. At such close proximity, he can see the thick eyeliner lining Albus’s eyes, the blue glitter on his neck and collarbones that contrasts his sepia skin.

 

“Come on stage,” he whispers, and _god_ , that’s so hot. 

 

“I can’t sing,” Scorpius confesses.

 

“You can play the piano. Jenna will tell you the chords. Salazar, Scorp. Don’t just stand there,” Albus chides, while simultaneously taking Scorpius’s hand and pulling him along. Scorpius smiles and someone in the audience makes a loud whooping noise. Albus rolls his eyes. 

 

Albus begins singing into the mike, and he’s singing in French. Scorpius didn’t even know that Albus knew French. Furthermore, it’s a love song. Scorpius is sure he’s blushing.

 

A girl with hair that makes her look like a scene kid from the early 2000’s shepherds Scorpius to a piano that’s at the centre of the stage. She whispers a chord sequence in his ear, but he isn’t listening. He listens to Albus and he plays, and suddenly all those years spent trying to coax a melody out of the piano at the manor make sense. He tunes into Albus, blurring out the world and playing along like it’s second nature, like it’s the only thing he’s ever wanted to do.

 

The other members of the band have stopped and it’s just Albus and Scorpius making music, and something about it makes Scorpius more content than he has felt for a long time.

 

They perform one song together, and then suddenly, Albus darts off stage. As he passes Scorpius, Scorpius thinks he can see the trace of a tear running down his cheek. Good mood evaporating as suddenly as it occurred, he runs after him, barely processing the concerned looks the rest of the band are shooting each other. 

 

Albus is sitting backstage, hugging his knees to his chest, his head down, and something about seeing him like that breaks Scorpius’s heart. He sits next to Albus, and Albus looks up, his eyes swimming and his eyeliner smudged. It’s still the most beautiful thing Scorpius has seen.

 

“Al,” he murmurs, putting an arm around his friend tentatively. “Are you okay?”

 

Albus makes a noise that’s somewhere between a snort and a sigh, before leaning against Scorpius, his head on Scorpius’s shoulder. Scorpius’s breath hitches, and he hopes Albus hasn’t noticed.

 

If Albus has noticed, he doesn’t show it, merely taking Scorpius’s hand in his. “I’ve missed you so much,” he murmurs, his fingers tracing patterns against the back of Scorpius’s hand idly.

 

“I’ve missed you too,” Scorpius murmurs.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Albus says, and he sounds devastated.

 

“What’s wrong?” Scorpius asks, trying to keep his voice gentle and not concerned. 

 

“I couldn’t deal with it,” Albus murmurs, and now he’s leaning against Scorpius, his entire body weight slotted against him. Scorpius shifts, adjusting his posture so that it’s comfortable for both of them. “I had to leave the wizarding world. It was all too much for me.” 

 

“Is this about our misadventure?”

 

Albus laughs, but it could easily be mistaken for a sob. “No. I wouldn’t trade that for the world, even though it was shit. This is about how much I suck at magic.” 

 

“You were always good at potions.” Scorpius is concerned, and he can’t hide it anymore.

 

“It wasn’t enough,” Albus says, and his voice sounds almost broken. “Why do you think I dropped out of school? I couldn’t cope with it. There was nothing in the wizarding world for me. People looked at me and saw my dad, but I’m nothing like him. I can barely do enough magic to get my OWLs. It was too overwhelming.”

 

“I know what it’s like, people looking at you and seeing your dad,” Scorpius murmurs. 

 

“Yes, but you’re a success,” Albus says, and he sounds almost resentful. “Highest scores in a decade, skipping an year, youngest employee at the Ministry of Magic since 1987. No-one could look at you and see a failure.” 

 

“Fuck that,” Scorpius murmurs. “None of that matters. I can’t sing.”

 

They both look at each other silently. Albus sighs. “I couldn’t ask you to leave it behind for me, you know? I couldn’t have asked you to leave and join me. You’re so good at being a wizard, Scorp. I’m not. I’m mediocre at best. You don’t need me.” 

 

“Albus, I will always need you,” Scorpius says, the words spilling out with more urgency and clumsiness than he could’ve anticipated. “If you’d asked, I would’ve come with you. I’ve missed you really badly. You fit all these empty spaces in my life, you were my only friend, but you were the only friend I needed. I can’t ... you don’t understand... how much I need you. And I think you’re miraculous. You’re not a failure.” 

 

Albus sighs, closing his eyes. “You’ve always been too kind to me, Scorpius.” 

 

Maybe that’s the breaking point, because it’s like something big and heavy explodes inside Scorpius. “For fuck’s sake, Albus. Do I need to spell it out for you?” 

 

“What do you mean?” Albus asks, something wary and hesitant in his tone. He looks almost scared, and Scorpius hates himself for making Albus feel like that. 

 

More gently, he says, “I’m in love with you.”

Albus stares at Scorpius, something blank and shocked on his face. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this. In fact, he looks like he’s going to cry again - and as Scorpius watches, he blinks back tears.

 

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Scorpius says. “You’re not obligated to respond, or to feel anything for me. It’s been at least two years since we’ve seen each other, and I said that. And it’s like, I didn’t know. I mean, of course I knew. But at the same time, I didn’t. You know what I mean? This isn’t like with Rose and the bread. I would ditch my career for you. Of course, I won’t if it makes you uncomfortable. But it’s a big and deep feeling and it’s like my life revolves around you. I didn’t even know it was love but I know it’s love now and god I know this is too much for you probably I understand if it’s overwhelming especially since I don’t know if I came out to you and – ”

 

“You haven’t changed in the slightest,” Albus says, interrupting. “I can’t believe this. This isn’t possible.” 

 

“Al, it actually is very possible. In fact, it’s happening right now. I meant it you know, I really- ”

 

“Scorpius.” Albus’s tone rings with finality, and Scorpius swallows and meets his eyes. “I’m in love with you too, you weird geek.” 

 

Scorpius chokes on his breath for the second time in the day. “Oh, Salazar, that’s good. Do you need a piano player in your band?” 

 

“We’ll deal with that later,” Albus snaps, but his tone is fond. “Just fucking kiss me.” 

 

Scorpius does. And he does again. And again. Albus kisses back each time, softly enough to make Scorpius feel like he’s in one of those odd romantic dramas his grandmother watches. At some point, they break apart, and Albus smiles at him. 

 

“What do you think this makes us, Mr. Malfoy?”

 

Scorpius knows the correct answer is “boyfriends” but he says “best friends” just to piss Al off. It doesn’t work. Albus beams and murmurs, “Glad I haven’t fucked that up, then. Do you also want to be boyfriends?” 

 

“Is that question necessary?” Scorpius asks. “It’s an almost rhetorical question, because surely you know the answer is yes. But at the same time, one must always ask for consent, of course, because otherwise – ”  
“Is that a no?” Albus asks, smiling. 

 

“It’s a yes,” Scorpius says. “So, what’s our plan?” 

 

“What do you mean?” Albus raises an eyebrow, and Scorpius wonders if he picked it up from his father, because it doesn’t seem like a Potter or Weasley trait.

 

“Do I quit my job and join your band?” 

 

“No, Scorpion king. You keep that job that you worked so hard to get, move in with me in my flat, and help pay the bills.” 

 

Scorpius smiles. “Never took you for a gold digger, Albus Severus.” 

 

Albus smirks back. “That’s because I’m _not_ , Scorpius Hyperion. Why would I want gold, when there are so many better things to be had?” 

 

Scorpius extends a hand. “Welcome to the Malfoy family, then.” 

 

Albus ignores the hand, opting to pull Scorpius in a hug instead. “I’ve waited almost ten years for this moment.”

 

Scorpius smiles, closing his eyes and focusing on how it feels to be holding Al like this, in his arms.  
“Me too,” he whispers.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, I know, I should extend the guinea pig verse (and I will! soon!) but I wrote this to cheer myself up. I haven't read many Cursed Child compliant fics that deal with Al and Scorp growing apart so apparently my subconscious decided to make one!
> 
> thanks for reading & hope you enjoyed it, feel free to hmu @gothzabini if you ever wanna talk about these 2 ... or anything else HP related, really.


End file.
